Politico reported yesterday that the U.S. Defense Department, separate from ambiguous talk about sending jet fighters to Ukraine, has ruled out providing long-range missiles—because it’s worried about having enough for its own needs. The Pentagon is refusing to give up any of its supply of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, because it’s afraid that it doesn’t have enough on hand. According to sources cited in the ATACMS Wikipedia entry, only 3,700 of those missiles have been manufactured since 1991. Of those, about 600 of them were expended in the wars in Iraq and several hundred others sold to allies.
The Pentagon’s assessment of its stockpiles is informed in part by how many weapons and munitions military planners think they might need to confront an enemy, Politico reports. Those plans have not been significantly revised since the start of the war in Ukraine, and there has been no recalibration as to stockpiles the U.S. might need in reserve to face a weakened Russia, or to account for the fact that Ukraine is essentially fighting that war right now.
A senior DOD official was quoted: “With any package, we always consider our readiness and our own stocks while providing Ukraine what it needs on the battlefield. There are other ways of providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to strike the targets.”
